Tottenham consider shock deadline day swoop for £135m Barca star

Toby Bowles
Dembele Tottenham Barca

Tottenham Hotspur could pursue a late move for Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele amid other expected deadline day arrivals, according to reports.

Dembele’s contract is due to expire at the end of the season and talks have collapsed over a new deal, meaning the 24-year-old is free to negotiate with foreign clubs.

Daily Mail sources claim Tottenham are interested in the Frenchman, who is thought to be Antonio Conte’s ‘dream’ signing, but add that a move is doubtful ‘given the expenses attached’ – Dembele was demanding €43m-a-year to stay at Barca.


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Much more likely for Spurs are the arrivals of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, with deals for the Juventus duo nearing completion.

Kulusevski, who has struggled to nail down a starting role in Turin following his move from Atalanta in 2020, is expected to join on loan with a view to making the deal permanent in the summer.

The Swede’s ability to play both centrally and on the wing would bolster Spurs’ attacking options as they look to regain their top-four spot.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano wrote on Twitter: “Dejan Kulusevski to Tottenham, here we go! He’ll fly to London today. Total agreement reached with Juventus.

“Deal will be around €40m plus add ons – including loan fee and buy clause that could become mandatory in case of UCL qualification/certain number of appearances.”

Spurs also offered to take Bentancur on loan but Juve rejected, instead demanding a fee for a permanent move worth upwards of £22m – the value of Aston Villa’s rejected bid. Spurs have since returned with a £25m bid.

 

 

It has been a challenging window for Spurs director of football Fabio Paratici, who has been beaten to two of his top transfer targets – Adama Traore and Luis Diaz – by Barcelona and Liverpool respectively.

The north London club have also suffered the ignominy of failing to agree personal terms with a non-league player.

According to former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino, one major issue is Spurs’ lack of trophies and achievements as a club.

“We can talk about the facilities at Spurs and they are extraordinary, but they haven’t got a CV as a club,” he told talkSPORT.

“They haven’t got a haul of trophies, have they? They haven’t won the Premier League, have they? They have been close a couple of times and, yes they are an attractive proposition, they’re a great football club, but they are not going to win a deal ahead of Liverpool, 9 times out of 10, at the moment.”